The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium Multilateral Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise-2017 (IMMSAREX-17) started in the Bay of Bengal on Monday and the Iranian Navy’s 49th flotilla of warships is among those taking part in the drills.

Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habbibollah Sayyari, who is in Italy to attend the Regional Seapower Symposium (RSS), has held talks with a number of his counterparts from European and regional states.

Amid the arrival of Kazakhstan’s flotilla in northern Iran, Iranian and Kazakh naval commanders underlined the importance of further engagement and continued relations based on peace and friendship in the Caspian Sea region.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the USS Nimitz has fired warning shots at an armed Iranian patrol boat on Friday in the Persian Gulf in the second clash between the two sides over the past few days.